Radio România Internațional

Tag: Passion Week

  • April 29, 2021

    April 29, 2021

    COVID-19 IN ROMANIA -
    1.850 new cases of COVID-19 infection were reported on Thursday in Romania
    after some 35,000 tests, the Group for Strategic Communication announced.
    Another 138 related fatalities were also reported, while 1,295 people are
    currently in intensive care. Over 1,050,000 people have tested positive for
    COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and 27,971 people have died to the
    virus. The infection rate continues to exceed 3 per thousand inhabitants in the
    capital city Bucharest and in Ilfov and Cluj counties, although the numbers are
    dropping steadily. On the other hand, the Government’s special committee for
    relaxing measures starting June 1 convened again to highlight the need for
    adapting relaxation measures depending on the specificity of each field of
    activity. Representatives of associations and employers’ associations made
    clear-cut proposals for the organization of cultural events with the observance
    of health safety regulations. The committee also discussed the gradual
    reopening of hotels and restaurants as more and more people get vaccinated. All
    proposals will be analyzed, starting today, by think-tanks that will address
    each specific field. Meanwhile, the authorities are accelerating the
    vaccination campaign. New vaccination centers will open this week. Some 84
    thousand people got immunized yesterday.


    COVID-19 IN THE WORLD -
    The international community is rallying to support India, a week after this
    country was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with daily record-high numbers
    of infections and fatalities and a health system under duress. The biggest
    concern is the so-called Indian strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which spreads
    rapidly and could be even more contagious and vaccine- and treatment-resistant
    than other strains, the WHO has warned. With a population of nearly 1.4 billion
    people, India has reported 200 thousand deaths and over 18 million infections
    since the start of the outbreak. Some experts believe numbers could be even
    higher. Great Britain has been sending oxygen concentrators and other medical
    equipment, while the United States will be shipping 60 million doses of the
    AstraZeneca vaccine. Romania has joined this international effort and delivered
    200 oxygen concentrators via a Romanian Air Force Spartan aircraft.


    HOLIDAY -Before the May 1st mini-holiday,
    which this year coincides with the Orthodox Easter holiday, Prime Minister
    Florin Cîţu calls on the population to keep observing anti-coronavirus sanitary
    rules, even if Romania is now on a descending slope of the third wave of the
    pandemic. He has urged the prefects and the police to take all measures to
    ensure compliance with the health rules in place. In the Romanian resorts on
    the Black Sea, over 30 thousand tourists are expected during the mini-holiday
    of May 1 and Easter. About 100 hotels will be opened, many of them already occupied
    at 70% capacity, the maximum allowed by the authorities. Tourists are not
    allowed to party on the beach, and wearing a mask is mandatory.




    PNNR -
    The leaders of the center-right ruling coalition in Bucharest have adopted the
    National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNNR) worth 29 billion Euro. The plan
    will be presented in Brussels starting May 10, when the final negotiations with
    European Commission representatives are due to take place. Prime Minister
    Florin Cîţu said none of the proposed projects will be discarded. In turn,
    Minister for Investment and European Projects, Cristian Ghinea, said funding
    for certain investment has been reduced, while budget appropriations have been
    readjusted to reflect the Commission’s recommendations.




    PASSION
    WEEK – Orthodox and Eastern-Orthodox Christians in Romania today
    mark Maundy Thursday, the fourth day of Passion Week when they recall the
    Lord’s Supper, the arrest and trial of Jesus. Passion Week precedes the Resurrection of
    Jesus Christ and marks a time of humbleness and spiritual cleansing ahead of
    the biggest celebration in the Christian calendar. Tonight, Orthodox believers
    will attend a special mass where the 12 Gospels will be read, covering the last
    moments in the life of Jesus, from the Lord’s Supper to his crucifixion. In his
    last supper, Jesus Christ laid the foundations for the Holy Eucharist, offering
    Christians the possibility to partake in the Body and Blood of the Lord. On the
    same day, according to Gospel of John, Jesus withdrew to Gethsemane Garden to
    pray. Betrayed by Judas, he was arrested and tried by the Sanhedrin and
    sentenced to death for blasphemy.




    UNEMPLOYMENT -
    The unemployment rate stood at 5.5% in March, down by 0.2% compared to
    February, a National Statistics Institute report reads. The number of
    unemployed aged 15-74 stood at 464 thousand in March, compared to 478 thousand
    the previous month. Broken down in terms of gender, unemployed men account for
    5.7%, compared to 5.2% for women. The number of unemployed aged 24-74 account for
    75.1% of the estimated number of unemployed in March.




    SURVEY -
    Romanians fear the economic crisis or corruption more than the COVID-19
    pandemic or the outbreak of an armed conflict. It’s one of the findings of the
    Security Survey published by the Romanian Academy’s Center for Sociological
    Research. According to the survey, 43% of respondents believe Romania has been
    a safe country after its NATO accession, while 37% said they felt safe during
    the communist period. As regards public confidence in state institutions, 72%
    of Romanians put their trust in the Army, followed by the Church with a 57%
    share and the Foreign Ministry with 50%.




    US -
    The United States’ return to the international stage, the response to the
    COVID-19 pandemic, the economic recovery plan, as well as firm warnings against
    Russia and China, were some of the highlights of US president Joe Biden’s first
    address to the joint session of Congress. Now, after just 100 days, I can
    report to the nation: America is on the move again. Turning peril into
    possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength, the White House
    leader said. According to Radio Romania’s Washington correspondent, Joe Biden
    also addressed a message to Russian president Vladimir Putin, insisting that
    Russia’s actions will have consequences. (V.P.)

  • April 9, 2017 UPDATE

    April 9, 2017 UPDATE

    UNIFIED PAY LAW – The unified pay law for state sector employees will be submitted to Parliament on Sunday, for debate, so it may take effect as of July 1. The bill creates equal conditions for all those who carry out the same activity and have the same seniority. Another principle is that of creating a scale, a hierarchy, for heads of institutions not to have smaller salaries than their subordinates. The bill also sets a timetable for the pay- rises to be made in the following years. The ratio between the smallest and the highest salary in the Romanian state sector will be 1/12. The political opposition in Bucharest contests this unified pay law drafted by the coalition Government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, saying it is unrealistic, as there is not enough money to cover all pay rises. In turn, the governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, says the pay-rises are necessary but they should be kept in check, given that Romania managed to secure the current economic and financial balance at high costs.



    STOCKHOLM ATTACK VICTIM – Bishop Macarie Dragoi, the representative of the Orthodox Diocese of Northern Europe on Sunday visited the Romanian woman who got injured in Fridays Stockholm attack. The woman, 83, was hit by fragments of concrete projected by the truck which rammed into a group of people. She suffered a double leg fracture. The Orthodox Diocese of Northern Europe writes in a communiqué that bishop Macarie has encouraged the woman and assured her of his entire support. 4 people got killed and 15 others were wounded in the Stockholm attack. The Romanian Foreign Ministry firmly condemned the attack and reiterated Romanias commitment to the effort of combating all forms of terrorism.



    HOLY WEEK – Christian believers the world over, among which those in Romania, a country with a majority Orthodox population, on Monday enter the Holy Week, the week immediately before Easter. The Holy Week, was preceded by Palm Sunday, which celebrates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday, thousands of Orthodox and Catholic believers attended the traditional Palm Sunday processions, carrying icons, willow tree branches and flowers. This year, orthodox and Catholic believers will celebrate Easter at the same time.



    ROAMING CHARGES – As of June 15, roaming charges will no longer be applied to European citizens travelling to another EU member state. Thus, the Europeans will be able to call, text and go online in another EU country without paying extra-charges. European mobile users will thus be charged the same price for using their phone while abroad as they pay in their country of residence. The European Commission has taken action for 10 years to reduce and finally eliminate extra-charges imposed by telecommunication operators, and last week, the European MPs eliminated the last obstacle in the effort to completely eliminate roaming charges.



    ROAD TAXES – The National Road Company of Romania intends to notify the European Commission relative to the new system of cashing in road taxes instated by Bulgaria. Sofia eliminated the possibility of purchasing the road vignette from petrol stations, a move which results in long queues of trucks at the Giurgiu-Ruse border checkpoint between Romania and Bulgaria. According to the company, the Bulgarian side has so far rejected all proposals made by Romania in an effort to ease traffic. Giurgiu-Ruse is the main border checkpoint between Romania and Bulgaria, and is transited by over 1,000 trucks a day.



    CHURCH BOMBINGS – The Islamic State Jihadist group has claimed responsibility for Sundays church bombings in Egypt, which left scores of dead and over 100 others injured. The bombings hit two Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria, respectively, while the believers were celebrating Palm Sunday. Coptic believers are making up the largest Christian community in the Middle East, accounting for some 10% of the total population of 92 million Egyptians.



    SYRIA – Russian and Iranian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rohani, respectively, on Sunday had a phone conversation, condemning the recent US strikes on a Syrian air-base. The US cruise missile strikes came in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in north-western Syria.Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rohani have underlined the US aggressive actions against a sovereign state are unacceptable and running counter to the rule of law. The two presidents called for an objective investigation to be made in order to cast light on the circumstances in which the chemical attack occurred. Russia and Iran are the main supporters of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, has said on CNN that President Donald Trump does not rule out the possibility of imposing new sanctions on Russia and Iran for the support they provide to the Syrian leader. Washington made public its intention to launch further attacks if need be, but it expressed hope this will not be necessary.